Emily’s POV

Lunch on the patio was torture.

I sat across from Daniel, picking at my grilled salmon while he discussed quarterly earnings with Victoria as if he hadn't just threatened to destroy Ethan's family two hours earlier. My mother laughed at his jokes. She touched his arm. She had no idea that the man she was marrying was a monster in a five-thousand-dollar suit.

Ethan sat beside me, still bleary-eyed from those thirty pages of compliance bullshit. His knee bumped mine under the table.

"You okay?" he whispered, leaning close. "You've been quiet all day."

"I'm fine," I lied, forcing a smile that made my cheeks ache. "Just tired."...